Page:Tayama Katai and His Novel Entitled Futon (Reece).pdf/293

 Yoshiko too must have been tormented. Her face was pale when she got up in the morning. She had only a bowl of rice for her breakfast. She seemed to be avoiding Tokio's face as much as possible. Yoshiko's anguish seemed to be not so much for having her secret found out as for realizing that she had been wrong in keeping it hidden. In the afternoon she mentioned that she wanted to go out for a short time, but Tokio, who had not gone to work, refused her request. The day passed in this way. No answer was received from Tanaka.

Yoshiko, saying she had lost her appetite, did not eat her lunch or supper. A depressed atmosphere hung over the house. Mrs.TakenakaMrs. Takenaka [sic] worried about her husband's bad mood and Yoshiko anxiously pondered what to do about this situation. Just when, judging from yesterday's talks, she had thought that everything was progressing in a satisfactory manner! Mrs. Takenaka went upstairs to persuade Yoshiko to have something to eat feeling that she might be hungry as she had skipped two meals that day. At twilight, in a very gloomy atmosphere, Tokio was drinking saké with a sour face. After a short time, Mrs. Takenaka came down. When Tokio asked her what Yoshiko was doing, she replied she was lying prostrated, face downward, on the desk with a partially finished letter in front of her, not even bothering to light the lamp in the dim room. On hearing the word "letter" Tokio got excited, wondering to whom she was writing a letter, and went noisily upstairs intending to state that it was a waste of time for her to write such a letter.

"Oh, please...." He heard her pleading voice. Yoshiko still had her face resting on the desk.